Hagan shows support for market, NC manufacturers

"My favorite four words are 'Made in North Carolina,'" said U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., while touring the showroom of Thomasville-based Younger Furniture.

BY VIKKI BROUGHTON HODGESCorrespondent

HIGH POINT | "My favorite four words are 'Made in North Carolina,'" said U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., while touring the showroom of Thomasville-based Younger Furniture on Friday, the day before the official start of the fall High Point Market."This is a testament to the hard workers in North Carolina and to companies like Younger Furniture that stay in business through the ups and downs," said Hagan, who routinely visits the biannual furniture market.Several years ago, as a state legislator from Guilford County, she led the effort by the local delegation to secure state funding to improve the transportation system for the world's largest furniture trade show when it was being challenged by a similar show in Las Vegas. "She's been a great supporter of the market," said Tom Conley, president and CEO of the High Point Market Authority, who accompanied Hagan on the tour."For me, it's all about jobs, jobs, jobs," Hagan said of the billion-dollar economic impact of the High Point Market and the state's furniture industry. Hagan said she was pleased to hear from Mike Younger, founder and CEO of Younger Furniture, an upper-medium priced contemporary upholstery manufacturer, and his daughter, Meredith Younger Spell, the company's recently named president, that not only is the company's line produced locally, but its suppliers of frames, foam and springs are also in the area. "Everything but the fabric" is made in the area, the founder said.Spell said furniture dealers are increasingly asking where products are made, and the company has begun emphasizing its local roots as part of its marketing. The company website's home page proclaims "Made with pride in North Carolina" and with a click of that button, dealers and consumers can read all about the quality of construction."We make it the old-fashioned way," Younger said. "The hardwood frames are kiln-dried, double-doweled and glued, we use the best foam, and the tailoring is exceptional. We still make a quality product that will last 10 to 15 years under normal use. This is not disposable furniture like a lot of imports. And we can deliver a custom-ordered product — we have 350 fabrics to choose from — within four to six weeks. China can't do that."Younger worked for Thayer-Coggin, a high-end contemporary furniture manufacturer in High Point, for 17 years before founding the family-owned business in 1989 with three employees in a 1,000-square-foot space. The company expanded several times through the years and now employs 70 people at an 80,000-square-foot facility on Todd Court in Thomasville. During the peak period of furniture sales in the late 1990s the plant employed 150 people.Competition from cheaper imports and the recession hurt the company, as it did the furniture industry overall, but Younger said business is "fair." He said once housing continues to pick up and the presidential election is over, he hopes furniture dealers will make sales commitments.While Younger oversees production, he said his daughter's area of expertise is sales and marketing. Working with an upholstery designer, Spell is working to brand the company's line with a new collection called Avenue 62, which includes mid-century modern sofas, sectionals, chairs and ottomans in bold colors and prints. Spell said the collection is inspired by the furniture, art, music and film of the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s.The company's best-selling sofa frames were already in the mid-century modern style category, but Spell wanted to make a design statement to take it to the next level with more sofa and chair frames and additional fabrics with colors such as orange, yellow and teal and Pop Art patterns."I feel like it was such a brilliant period," said Spell, who, at age 30, didn't live in that era but believes her generation will be attracted to the clean modern lines and colors as well as an older generation that still appreciates the styles of their youth. "I think it appeals to two different generations. Young professionals are the market, but I mean young more in ways of thinking than age."Vikki Broughton Hodges can be reached at vikkihodges@mac.com.